Witnessed with the advance of globalization is the increasingly greater request for the standardization of processes for safeguarding people and the environment in relation to the use of mechanical means.
The purpose of European and international norms is to bring about criteria for evaluation which are as alike as possible. Over time, these norms have been developed by ISO, Inter- national Organization for Standardization, and CEN, European Committee for Standardization, through their Technical Committees. Though these norms establish fun- damental criteria, they must often be interpreted for achieving precise tests which are comparable one against the others and provide an optimum evaluation of the performance of machinery. Moreover, to reach a reliable level of machinery testing highly specialized test cen- ters must be turned to. For this reason, a number of European testing centers decided in 1999 to sign a cooperation agreement which, by today, has brought in eighteen members to testify to the fact that at the time, the right road was chosen to lead on to fruitful collaboration in future. This collaboration gave rise to ENTAM, European Network for Testing of Agricultural Machines. ENTAM is based on an accord among testing centers which are of- ficially recognized in various European countries and the purpose of the network is to standardize testing for evaluating the performance, safety and environmental aspects of agricultural machinery.
The tests, carried out in specialized ENTAM testing centers on the re- quest of the manufacturer, are based on national, European or international standards and shared agreements or methodologies and can provide the manufacturer with valuable information on ways and means for improving the machines produced. If the machine passes the test, the manufacturer has available a certification document issued by the out- side and independent agency which certifies that this agricultural machine from his production fully complies with the norms applied. The end-user is thus supplied with a valid instrument for making the best choice when purchasing a machine. The initial agreement was signed by BLT, Bundersanstalt für Landtechnik, DLG, Deutsche Landwirtschafts- Gesellschaft e.V., and CONAMA (now named ENAMA), Ente Nazionale per la Meccanizzazione Agricola. At present, there are eighteen partners in ENTAM. ENTAM’s first steps were taken not without difficulty owing to the clash of different methodological approaches as well as differences in the equipment used for conducting the tests on machinery. What prevailed in these cases was a desire to share experiences and this led to the first collaboration efforts to pursue methodologies for harmonizing test- ing and making comparisons of various tests for uniform interpretations. Still today, many test methods are reviewed through continuous updating.
Visibility of the product certified
Internationally, the ENTAM accord has become a valid instrument for promotional purposes by allowing the manufacturer who is certified in his own country to gain visibility on for- eign markets with the presentation in various countries of trademarks and recognition numbers issued by known agencies such as CEMA- GREF in France, DLG in Germany and so forth.
In the Italian setting, there are hopes for getting policy makers more in- volved in providing incentives for the purchase of machines given ENA- MA’s voluntary certification because they carry greater value added thanks to having been put through rigorous checks of performance and safety. ENAMA has carried out a study on this issue in cooperation with Mipaaf on mechanization and safety in the RDPs, Rural Development Programs. The findings disclose a number of positive signals for the prospect of incentives for the purchase of certified machinery in recognition of the great value of quality.